This year, the Life Sciences Society LS2 honors the molecular biologist Dr. Claudia Keller Valsecchi, currently a research group leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, for her outstanding achievements in biochemistry. She shares the award, which is endowed with 20,000 Swiss francs, with Prof. Li Tang from the EPFL in Lausanne.
"It’s a great honor to receive this award, especially in light of the exceptional scientists who have been recognized in the past," says Claudia Keller Valsecchi. "Many of them have been inspiring role models, both scientifically and personally.”
Dr. Claudia Keller Valsecchi completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a focus on molecular biology at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. She moved on to Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) in Basel, where she first received her MSc and then a PhD in Biochemistry, specializing in epigenetic gene regulation and chromatin. She then joined the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg as a postdoc, supported by the Human Frontier Science Program fellowship. She has headed a research group at the IMB in Mainz since May 2020 and will join Biozentrum at the University of Basel as an Assistant Professor in August 2025.
In her research, Keller Valsecchi focuses on the evolution of sex chromosomes, sex differences and the causes and consequences of gene dosage alterations. Unlike females, male individuals have only a single X chromosome and therefore just a single copy of x-linked genes instead of two. Her team investigates the significance of gene copy number and the molecular mechanisms that compensate for the differences in gene dosage. Gene dosage alterations play a pivotal role in aging and diseases.
About the Friedrich Miescher Award
The Friedrich Miescher Award is Switzerland's highest distinction for outstanding achievements in biochemistry. The prize-winners must be younger than forty years of age and either hold Swiss citizenship or have carried out their research in Switzerland. The prize was established in 1969 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of DNA by the Basel scientist Friedrich Miescher. The official award ceremony will take place on 13 February 2025, at the Life Sciences Switzerland LS2 meeting at the Campus Pérolles in Fribourg.
Contact: Communications, Katrin Bühler